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Juneau residents will have a chance to weigh in on what they’d like the city to prioritize during its upcoming budget process as it faces a multimillion-dollar budget hole. 

The city will host the first of three public workshops on the topic on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Filipino Community Hall downtown. The workshop is filled up – the city capped participation at 25 people – but people can join a waitlist. 

During last fall’s municipal election, Juneau voters approved municipal tax cuts that will lower the city’s revenue by an estimated $10 to 12 million. At the upcoming workshops, city officials will break down what services are at stake. Residents will have a chance to share their thoughts and work through different scenarios to balance the budget. Those could include cuts to city services or increases in local sales taxes.

The upcoming workshops come after a city survey that asked residents to pick what city programs and services are most important to fund and to pick what services to reduce funding for. The list includes programs like libraries and museums, trails and parks, and homelessness services. 

The survey also asked what residents want the Assembly to prioritize, like whether to keep taxes low, continue to support local businesses year-round, or fund affordable housing projects. The survey closed earlier this week and the results have yet to be shared with the public. 

City officials say the survey and the public workshops will help inform the Assembly in the coming months as it decides how to move forward with the budget. 

Two other workshops are slated in the coming weeks at the Mendenhall Valley Library on Feb.  24 and Douglas Library on March 3. Both are also full, but people can join a waitlist for potential future workshops. The Assembly will also host a listening session for the public to weigh in on the process on April 15.

The Alaska Legislature on Wednesday approved a 30-day extension for the state of disaster covering the fall 2025 storms that battered the state’s west coast.

The extension allows the state to continue spending money from its disaster response fund as it continues cleanup and repair efforts from two storms in October. Hundreds of Alaskans were displaced by the disasters, which devastated coastal communities.

The Alaska Senate approved the extension in a 19-0 vote on Monday, but the extension nearly failed in the Alaska House after members of the House’s Republican minority caucus raised procedural issues on Wednesday and said members of the majority were not following state law.

The extension was included in Senate Concurrent Resolution 12, which retroactively approves extensions issued since October and allows the governor to spend more from the state’s disaster response fund.

“Doing this as a resolution is dangerous, I think it’s a mistake, and I’m not even certain that it’s legal,” said House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer.

Johnson and other Republicans said that under their interpretation of state law, legislators would need to approve the spending via a bill, not a resolution.

A legislative attorney, writing in a Feb. 2 memo to Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, said, “when the legislature means to take action having a binding effect on those outside the legislature, including extending a disaster declaration, the legislature must enact a bill in a special or regular session rather than using the less formal resolution process.”

Johnson was rebutted by House Rules Chair Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak and a member of the House’s majority coalition.

“This is not new money,” she said. “This is money that has been (in the fund) and is being allowed to be appropriated out. … it’s been agreed upon that maybe this wasn’t the optimum way. Nothing’s perfect. We’re moving forward. We are trying to do the best we can as quickly as we can. Time is of the essence, so I ask you to ask yourself: Do you want to be right in how it is done, or do you want to do the right thing when there’s a question?”

The House vote was 22-18, with Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, joining the 21 members of the House’s coalition majority in support. All other members of the House Republican minority voted against the resolution.

As debate opened, Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie, D-Toksook Bay, became choked up as she described the disaster, which devastated her district and resulted in the largest peacetime evacuation in state history.

“Today, months later, 340 of our neighbors remain without permanent houses. Mr. Speaker, we are Yup’ik. Our people have lived in this delta for thousands of years. We know storms. We know water. We know loss,” she said. “We have lived on this coast for thousands of years, and we’ve survived ice ages, epidemics, colonization. We’ve survived by adapting, sharing, by refusing to abandon our homes, but you can’t really live when your home floats 10 miles out to sea, when your fuel tanks that heat your home in winter are submerged in salt water.”

On Jan. 28, Gov. Mike Dunleavy requested permission to spend $20.5 million from the disaster response fund, up $5.5 million from a prior request.

When federal money is added to that tally, the total amount is $39.25 million.

More spending is expected.

Last week, the director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has estimated at least $125 million in state and federal costs related to the storm disaster.

“The declaration allows state agencies to continue their emergency response and to extend state funds as needed,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage and co-chair of the House Finance Committee.

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, took issue with the fact that after Dunleavy declared a state of disaster in October, the Speaker of the House and Senate President approved subsequent 30-day extensions without consulting legislators.

“I think we should have called ourselves in (to special session), or the third floor should have called us in (to special session) to take up this very important issue,” Ruffridge said.

“What precedent does this set for the presiding officers to make the decisions before us on our behalf?” he asked. “What power do we give the executive by allowing disaster declarations to continue without (the House) or the (Senate) taking up that order of business?”

Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, said he worries that failing to follow proper procedure could leave disaster relief vulnerable to legal challenge.

“We put the reliability of that relief at question if this is not done right,” he said.

The day after the vote, Ruffridge said members of the minority have drafted a bill that would fix the problems they see, and that bill is being reviewed by legislative attorneys.

House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, said legislative attorneys have reviewed the majority’s plan.

“We have had our legal department tell us that this passes muster,” he said during the debate.

After the vote, Kopp’s office was unable to provide a legal memo to that effect but said he had received verbal advice.

Josephson, wrapping up debate, said the majority was working in good faith with Dunleavy to get the money out the door quickly.

“Given the urgency of the matter, we’re trying to cooperate with the executive branch,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Alaska Congressman Nick Begich said it’s just common sense to require a photo ID to vote and to make sure that only citizens can register.

“For years, there have been questions levied, on both sides of the aisle, about the integrity of elections,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “We can’t have that. That’s not healthy for our democratic republic to be questioning the nature of elections.”

The SAVE America bill will restore trust in election integrity, he said.

The U.S. House passed it on Wednesday. It requires people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote and to show photo ID to get a ballot.

Begich signed on as a co-sponsor Monday, though the bill’s requirements for proving citizenship asks more of voters than he first thought.

Also called the SAVE Act, the legislation is a huge priority for Republicans. President Trump, Elon Musk and a host of right-wing influencers are pressuring the Senate to pass it. They say the survival of American democracy depends on ensuring that non-Americans don’t cast ballots.

Many surveys and audits show illegal voting by noncitizens is rare. Democrats say what the SAVE Act will really do is prevent millions of eligible people from voting.

Begich cites polling that shows more than 80% of Americans want to require photo identification at the polls. The bill won’t be hard to comply with, he said.

To vote, he said, Alaskans could just show their REAL ID card at their polling place, or another type of photo identification listed in the bill.

Where a person would have to prove citizenship is when they register. Begich said that requirement, too, is as simple as showing a REAL ID.

“The REAL ID was acquired in a manner that is demonstrative of your citizenship status,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

But that’s not correct, as a Begich staffer acknowledged in an email after the interview. States issue REAL ID cards to noncitizens, such as green card holders, who are not allowed to vote.

If the SAVE bill becomes law, a person would have to bring other documentation of citizenship, like a passport or a birth certificate, with them when they register to vote. Technically, the bill doesn’t end registration by mail or online, but the applicant would still have to present documents “in person to the office of the appropriate election official” before the registration deadline.

“The Congressman’s view is that for most Americans, including most Alaskans, this is documentation they already possess and use for other routine purposes (employment verification, travel, obtaining a REAL ID, applying for benefits, etc.),” the email from Begich’s office says.

Voting advocates say the bill imposes several requirements that will discourage people from participating in elections, like requiring that mailed ballots include a photocopy of the voter’s ID card.

“This is creating incredible barriers to voting,” said Michelle Sparck, director of Get Out the Native Vote.

It would be especially hard on communities off Alaska’s road system and those that are far from government services, she said.

“It’s just asking way too much of a lot of demographics and pockets in the state,” she said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls the bill federal overreach. The Constitution gives states the authority to determine the “times, places and manner” of federal elections, and Murkowski said states know best the on-the-ground realities.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t have identification,” she said. “I’m saying that it is left to the states to determine how you provide that proof.”

Begich and other sponsors of the SAVE Act say the Elections Clause in the Constitution leaves a lot of authority to the states but not everything.

“It continues,” Begich said, reading the end of the clause. “‘… But the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations.'”

That, Begich said, gives Congress the power to impose the SAVE Act.

The bill, so far, does not have the 60 votes it needs to pass the Senate.

Fortyeight Republicans are co-sponsors, including Sen. Dan Sullivan. He did not respond to an interview request. His office sent a statement saying the bill wouldn’t disenfranchise Alaskans.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is less than a month away and set to run on its normal northern route this year.

Race officials said that’s a relief, after low snow conditions last year forced the race to start in Fairbanks, over 200 miles north, for the fourth time in history.

Snow conditions are generally much better than they were last year, said race director Mark Nordman, although there were concerns about the trail until just recently.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was still concerned about going over the Alaska Range, because there wasn’t a lot of snow up by Rainy Pass Lodge, one of our checkpoints,” Nordman said. “But we’ve got plenty of snow now, and so I think we’ll be good.”

In 2025, race officials said a portion of the trail outside of Nikolai was impassable because of the lack of snow. Nordman said that section, called the Farewell Burn, is notoriously challenging for its ice and windblown ground. But it currently has some snow coverage and “looks doable,” he said.

The 1,000-mile race typically alternates routes each year, running the northern route on even years and the southern route on odd years. The trail is the same for the first 350 miles before splitting at the ghost town of Ophir, then rejoining at the Yukon River village of Kaltag before heading to Unalakleet and continuing up the Bering Sea Coast.

Clearing brush off the trail takes more work now than it used to, Nordman said.

“Where we might have only brushed the trail every four or five years in certain areas, it seems like it’s every other year now,” he said.

One section in particular required extra effort.

The remnants of Typhoon Halong last fall decimated the trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet, Nordman said. The Iditarod hired a crew to clean up blown-down trees along that 85-mile stretch, and it’s now ready for mushers, he said.

“They spent a full month out there, cutting, opening it up, grooming,” Nordman said. “Otherwise nobody would be going over that trail this year.”

This year’s Iditarod starts March 7, with its parade-like ceremonial start through Anchorage. The race will officially start March 8 in Willow.

Federal officers detained three Juneau men for immigration enforcement and removed them from the community last year.

The Juneau Police Department says its knowledge of these incidents and its involvement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Juneau is very limited. 

Listen:

Alaska Department of Corrections spokesperson Betsy Holley confirmed that three men were held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau under federal charges for immigration detention purposes in 2025, and were then released to federal custody. They are no longer in Alaska’s correctional system.

Last May, one of the men was charged with driving without a license or insurance, according to Alaska court documents.

Juneau Police Deputy Chief Krag Campbell said his files say ICE officers detained the man. This happened in October without JPD knowledge or involvement. 

“During an unrelated investigation, JPD learned that one of the individuals had been deported by ICE,” Campbell said in an interview. 

Juneau police arrested one of the other men for driving under the influence in November. According to DOC, this man then went into federal custody, though Campbell said there is no record of immigration enforcement in JPD files.

Juneau police officers arrested the third man in December for a DUI. When officers later went to his residence and tried to serve a warrant, people there said he had been deported.

This is the first time police have confirmed immigration enforcement activity in Alaska’s capital city during the Trump Administration’s nationwide crackdown. As recently as Monday, Chief Derek Bos said he was not aware of any federal immigration activity in the area.

Holley said once the three men were in federal hands, DOC didn’t track what happened to them next. JPD doesn’t know where they are either. ICE has not responded to requests for more information. 

At Monday’s Juneau Assembly human resources committee meeting, Bos said federal agents are not required to notify local police of their activities.  

“In essence, they do not have to tell us if they’re doing anything in Juneau or not,” Bos said. “We have a great relationship with our federal partners, and so most of the time we do know if they’re coming or whatnot.”

He said the people he knew of that had been detained for immigration reasons had criminal records.

“By and large, all of those that I’m aware of, not to say there aren’t others, but that I’m aware of, who have been deported from our community have been convicted of crimes, and that has been the basis of why they’re leaving,” he said. “There may be exceptions, but I don’t know of those.” 

Nationwide, thousands of ICE officers have entered cities, going door to door to detain and deport people – some children, some with legal residency status. Protests have erupted, and last month, federal officers shot and killed two people in Minneapolis. 

Assembly member Maureen Hall said at the meeting that she has heard from residents about possible ICE activity in Juneau and that immigrants in the community are afraid. 

“Just from awareness of what’s happening all over the country, they are pretty terrified, so (they’re) reluctant to report minor fender benders or engage in any way,” she told Bos. “So if you have any suggestions on how we can help reassure them that Juneau Police Department is not ICE.”

Bos said Juneau residents can trust police to protect them.

“If you’re the victim of a crime, you have a lot of protections, and our job is to enforce those protections,” he said. “So especially as victims, we encourage people to still come to us and talk to us. We don’t have to report that you’re a victim to a crime and you’re illegal in the country. We don’t have to report that to ICE.”

That is, unless that person has a criminal detainer order, which is like a warrant from the federal government, Bos said.

“We do have certain requirements where we have to notify, you know, if there’s a person that we contact who’s on a criminal detainer, we have to notify them, and we do,” he said. “That’s federal law, so we follow that.” 

Campbell said there is no indication in police files that JPD alerted ICE about any of the three men who were detained. The files don’t mention immigration status, he said. 

He said people do have to comply with any orders from federal officers.

“Anytime you have law enforcement coming into town, whether they’re local, state or federal, they have a mandate,” he said. “You have to comply with it. Especially if they have things like warrants.”

KTOO requested records related to the three men from JPD, but has not yet received them.

Even though Juneau has not seen immigration enforcement like larger cities in the Lower 48 have, Assembly member Hall said in an interview that residents still need to be informed about what’s happening here.

“It gives the opportunity for those in the community that are involved in this to review our readiness to deal with potential full scale ICE activity,” she said.

Staff from Alaska Marine Lines and the Alaska Marine Highway System discussed EV shipping safety during a panel held by Renewable Juneau, an advocacy nonprofit, on Wednesday. 

Electric vehicles have grown in popularity in Juneau over the years, but shipping safety concerns have now made it more difficult for people to bring them to Alaska or send them out for maintenance.

AML stopped shipping electric vehicles to Alaska last year due to the fire risk posed by lithium ion batteries. The decision came after another company’s cargo ship carrying hundreds of hybrid and electric vehicles caught fire in the open ocean off the coast of Adak, burned for days and sank. An AML spokesperson said at the time the company would reassess its policy as industry standards improve. 

During the panel, AML President Don Reid said he wished there were reliable safety ratings for the various lithium ion batteries on the market. 

“Every manufacturer you talk to wants to tell you that their product is perfectly safe,” Reid said. “And, you know, who are you supposed to believe?”

Reid said he wants AML to be able to ship all vehicles, but he’s spent a lot of time researching the issue and speaking with consultants, and said that shipping EVs that plug-in would be too risky for the company at this point. 

“What I need is the confidence that the thing’s not going to catch on fire on the barge. That’s really what it comes down to,” Reid said.

AML was the last barge company to pull EVs off its Alaska shipping routes after Matson and Tote Maritime. Now, EVs can be shipped two ways: on the road system, which doesn’t extend to much of Southeast, or two-at-a-time on the ferry — creating a bottleneck for consumers.

Craig Tornga, marine director for the Alaska Marine Highway System, said people who want to ship an EV on the ferry from Bellingham might wait around three months. 

To improve safety procedures, the agency hired a vessel firefighter with expertise in EV battery fires. The procedures include recommending EV drivers not charge the battery too much before boarding, placing EVs in areas of the ship easy for firefighters to access and repeatedly inspecting the vehicles while in transit.

“We have thermal infrared handheld cameras,” Tornga said. “We go around and we — every hour, on the hour — we shoot the battery to see what the temperature is and make sure we don’t see any changes.”

In addition to the handheld cameras, the ferry system plans to install other thermal cameras and purchased high-powered sprayers called Turtle Fire Systems that can flood a battery box to cool it down. 

Disclaimer: The panel was hosted at KTOO, with staff outside the news department contracted to produce the event.